water pollution Archive

One billion people do not have access to clean water or the privilege to purchase a filtration system to feed their reusable water bottles -- this is water equity. Our guests today are fighting for water equity in the Los Angeles County areas of Compton and Willowbrook, where the taps are running brown and bottled water has become a way of life.

The documentary “Here’s To Flint” examines the origins of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis and the determined efforts of residents, activists and researchers to learn the truth about the city’s lead-contaminated drinking water.

With the Keystone XL and Line 3 pipelines threatening to inundate the Earth with the dirtiest oil known to humanity, we survey a bird's-eye view of the post-apocalyptic tar sands oil sacrifice zones in Alberta, Canada, by photographer Alex MacLean.

Humans are consuming the ocean’s resources at an alarming rate. How do we sustain this vital ecosystem for generations to come? National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle outlines some of the ways to protect the health of the earth's biggest ecosystem.

The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report warns. "We are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change. The next mass extinction may have already begun."

After seven years of study, federal officials have recommended a $453-million plan that would restore an 11-mile stretch of the Los Angeles River but leave much of its banks steep and hard to reach. Advocates will continue to press for a more ambitious alternative that would bring more people to the river, improving parks and recreation as well as ecosystems.

Almost two and a half years after the nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, the head of Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) raised concern on August 5 about the continued flow of radioactive water from the plant going into the Pacific Ocean, telling Reuters, "Right now we have a state of emergency." Hmm, yes, sounds about right.

Lauren Steiner writes on California's insufficient move to regulate fracking with SB 4, sponsored by State Representative Fran Pavley: "Worse than having no regulations, weak regulations provide political cover to legislators who could otherwise be pressured to vote for a moratorium on the practice." Tell Fran Pavley to withdraw her bad regulatory bill and fight for a fracking ban instead!

The State Department has issued a flawed environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that ignores its far-reaching impacts on climate and our environment. Tar Sands Action Southern California has prepared a commentary on behalf of 40 groups to be submitted to the State Department demanding a comprehensive reassessment of the significant and irreversible impacts on the environment not taken into account in the draft report released on March 1st. Make your comment by April 22nd!

The LA River, an over-engineered concrete "water-freeway," is undergoing a long-term greening and revitalization. A 32-mile greenbelt, developed through numerous projects, promises to improve the health of the ecosystem and the value of the river as a regional public amenity, while managing flows and protecting properties.

A movement to pave over San Onofre State Beach and Trestles with a toll-road-to-nowhere-for-nobody-but-developers was rejected by the California Coastal Commission and Federal Commerce Department in 2008. Yet, here again the State Water Boards will decide in May whether to grant a permit for the "Stupid Toll Road" to dump contaminated runoff into creeks and the ocean while keeping the dream alive of paving over Trestles.

The dirty water produced from fracking has triggered a gold rush among water-treatment companies, with the private water industry profiting while downplaying its environmental, public health and economic risks.

Canada is the number one oil supplier to the US and is pushing to increase that role using the Alberta Tar Sands, slated to mine and strip an area of Boreal Forest the size of Florida, impacting land resources and indigenous communities, producing bitumen-crude that will foul the global climate.

The EPA wants to study impacts on drinking water of each stage involved in hydraulic fracturing, where drillers mix water with chemicals and sand and inject the fluid into wells to release oil or natural gas.

Featured Stories

The Michael Moore-produced, Jeff Gibbs video, Planet of the Humans, uses the capitalism onslaught that has caused disaster across the planet as an Earth Day opportunity to lob spitballs at environmental movements and prominent advocates. While it can't even manage any more cogent solutions than vague assertions about curbing population and over-consumption, it also fails to see the monster who stands before it: the system, which needs to be overcome, immediately.

Now is the time to invest in a regenerative economy that supports climate finance at scale. Our banking and investment practices can proactively regenerate the planet and foster a clean, green economy that is both socially conscious and sustainable. EcoJustice Radio speaks with Tom Duncan of Earthbanc.

THE BOTTLE SCAM - EcoJustice Radio connects the dots between the Water Bottle Scam and the fight for Land, Water, and Indigenous Rights. This is PART FIVE of a special seven-part series, called, “The Plastic Plague: Connecting the Dots between Extraction, Inequity, and Pollution.”

EcoJustice Radio investigates the impacts plastics have on our personal health and quality of life. From food packaging to building materials, we cover the toxins types, corporate responsibility, and how can we avoid exposure. We dive into what it means to support the efforts of frontline communities to minimize exposure by reducing these toxic chemicals.

EcoJustice Radio visits Baltimore, Maryland, setting the standard for #ZeroWasteCities by ensuring social equity. Their racially and economically just Zero Waste Plan goes beyond the successful management of resources and waste by lifting up human rights values and ensuring that those communities who are historically burdened by the ill effects of our waste system are made a priority. Jessica Aldridge from Adventures in Waste interviews advocates from United Workers.

REFINEMENT - Once extracted, how does oil and gas become the resin that will eventually be the plastic we use in our daily lives? Then we buy these products, the social and environmental justice issues are covered up by cool marketing campaigns.

On today’s show Carry Kim speaks with special guest Torgen Johnson, an urban planner and community activist from coastal San Diego County here to discuss the stranded nuclear waste situation at the now closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station located just a short drive south of Los Angeles. Nuclear waste has been described by Greenpeace’s Michael Stothard as “the most destructive and indestructible waste in history.” Torgen will shed some light on how we can remain safe nevertheless.

EcoJustice Radio and Adventures In Waste look at Single Use Consumption Culture and how proposed #AB1080 and #SB54 legislation in California attempts to reduce plastic pollution and support recycling and Circular Economy efforts.